


Vampire Gaffer

by tipplerdoeswords



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, ah well, domestic fluff with added glass blowing, i don't think bernoulli's equation has been invented yet in the timeline, kids learn science in this castle it is the law, or pitot tubes for that matter, request for someone on tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24555832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tipplerdoeswords/pseuds/tipplerdoeswords
Summary: Adrian third wheels his parents while they make glass tubes.
Relationships: Dracula Vlad Tepes | Mathias Cronqvist & Lisa
Kudos: 18





	Vampire Gaffer

“Adrian, be careful with that!”

Lisa stood at the top of stairs that led down to the castle entrance, arms full of a mix of parchment and paper scrolls. Adrian tottered across the rich red rug in front of the open castle doors, trying to drag a sizable wood chest into the foyer. 

The human woman put down her notes and went to help her son.

“Lift with your knees, dear, or at least don’t float when handling something so heavy…I don’t want you to fall.”

Sand trickled from the corners of the roughhewn wood as Lisa grunted and took part of the weight.

Adrian was half her size, with the body of a ten year old child with golden eyes and light blonde hair, but he gripped the bottom of the container with ease.

“Mother, you’re the one who should be careful.” he laughed. “What’s this for anyway? I didn’t think father had any use for common dirt.”

“The glass tubes we ordered earlier were poorly made. Your father had a right fit about it, blamed the insipid nature of the feeble human mind, and so we are planning to make our own. He thought it better to order sand than move the entire castle to the beach.” Lisa puffed.

“Why not? I like the ocean.”

“Yes darling, and your room still smells of seaweed and rotting fish from everything you took home on our last trip.”

They carefully walked up the stairs and down the corridor to the armory, leaving a thin trail of sand behind them. Lisa wiped her forehead with her sleeve after they set down the crate on the bare stone floor, a few meters from her husband.

Dracula was hunched over the dusty furnace against the wall. He had removed his cloak, more due to it being a fire hazard than the heat.

“Ah excellent. Thank you both, you know it’s been several decades since I’ve fired up this furnace. I may have used a little magical fire to get started but now it should be hot enough to survive on its own.”

He took a ceramic pot from the floor and strode over to the case. With a flick of one of his long nails, he pried off the top and scooped up half a pot of tan sand.

After placing the pot in the furnace with his bare hands, Dracula beckoned for Lisa to come over and showed her a collection of heavy iron tools against the wall.

“I’ll show you how to make a tube by pincering the glass, then after you’re comfortable handling the hot glass we can try blowing simple baubles.”

They waited in the sweltering room, more cave-like than the rest of the ornate castle, for the sand to melt. Adrian tried to stick his nose out one of the arrow slits in the wall to catch a hint of fresh balmy air.

Once the surface of the pot was glowing white hot, Dracula took one of the long metal poles and gathered a glob of molten glass on the end. He braced the pole against a charred wooden bench and started pulling at the edge of the glob with what looked like a large pair of tweezers.

Lisa watched attentively as Dracula stretched out the edges of the glass, then gripped the rough edges and pulled, drawing a thin, hollow portion between the bulk of the still hot glass and the tweezers.

He tapped one side, then the other on the bench so that the tube broke free.

With a puff of fire from the end of his finger, Dracula rotated and heated the tube about a third of the way along its length. He extinguished the flame and bent the tube at a precise right angle.

“The edges are rough now but I’ll grind them smooth. We can head down to the river at dusk to test this pressure tube. The height of the water in the vertical portion when we put the horizontal edge into the flow can tell us how quickly the water is moving, which as you know is of some interest to my kind.”

“It’s wonderful.” said Lisa warmly. 

Dracula showed Lisa how to let the metal pole rest in the furnace to reheat the glass and guided her through pulling another glass tube. It wasn’t as even or straight as the first, but the vampire didn’t seem to mind.

While the tube was cooling, he quizzed her on the how the pressure tube functioned.

Lisa paused to think for a few seconds.

“Well, the water in the river has kinetic energy, but when it runs into the tube it stops. The kinetic energy has to be conserved…So I suppose it’s converted to potential energy by creating a column in the vertical part of the tube. We can measure the potential energy from the height of the tube and use that to calculate the kinetic energy.”

“Excellent, you reasoned perfectly. Adrian, I hope you were paying attention.” The vampire’s cold eyes were filled with affection.

“Why do I have to learn this boring stuff? I’d rather practice my sword fighting or make mutton pie or do magic.” Adrian groaned. He flopped back in the air so that he was floating on his back.

Dracula crouched down so he was roughly level with Adrian. He stroked his beard until Adrian turned his head to begrudgingly meet his eyes.

“Now young man, you have the insight of your mother and the genius of your father, it would please me if you showed more interest in natural phenomena.”

“He’s only two years old, Vlad.” Lisa laughed.

“Two years already.” Dracula bowed his head for a moment. “Every day since your arrival, beloved, has been an unmeasured gift.”

Adrian made a face at the ceiling when his mother ducked in for a kiss. His hair was getting longer and when he straightened back up it brushed his shoulders. He watched his parents prepare another funny bent tube, this one with a loop at the bottom and pretended not to listen to the science babble.

He stayed with them in the hot, dingy armory for the rest of the afternoon. After dinner he followed his parents down to the river and basked in their affection.

**Author's Note:**

> a short, fun request for peppergoji on tanglr. something g rated for the youth


End file.
